The British actor - raised in Newcastle upon Tyne - added that he does not find it difficult to tap into Jax's "dark side".

"It's not like I don't have my own dark side," he admitted. "I spend a lot of my time trying to not go there, because it's an unhealthy place for me to be, but I come from a very hard area and my father was an incredibly hard, brutal man.

"I feel very close to the propensity for violence and to go to a dark place. But I'm very fortunate that I got out and don't have to have that as a currency in my life."

Sons of Anarchy's sixth season begins on September 10 in the US, and is expected to air in 2014 on 5USA.